Joe Biden singled out Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, criticizing the Trump ally for his lax approach to the coronavirus outbreak.
“This deadly pandemic does not discriminate along party lines, ZIP codes, gender, race, and certainly not state, county or city lines,” the former vice president said in a statement Wednesday.
The presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee added, “While other large states continue to take strong, urgent, and sweeping action to stop the spread of COVID-19, Florida has not. I urge Governor DeSantis to let the experts speak to the public and explain why this is the case.”
Florida is a general-election battleground that is home to 29 Electoral College votes. It’s one of the states without a stay-at-home order in place and was the backdrop of rowdy spring-breakers flouting White House and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance to avoid crowds of more than 10 people. DeSantis eventually closed beaches and other public spaces after a deluge of complaints.
On the other end of the age spectrum, Florida has a large retiree population. DeSantis, 41, has encouraged those aged 65 years and older to remain indoors and has asked those who have traveled from New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut recently to self-isolate.
Biden, who is struggling to find his voice amid the spread of the novel respiratory disease, has been complimentary of GOP governors like Ohio’s Mike DeWine, a Senate colleague from 1995-2007, though he’s been hypercritical of the man he’s hoping to replace in the Oval Office.
“In this moment of growing uncertainty and anxiety, Floridians want and deserve to hear from the public health officials leading the charge,” Biden said Wednesday. “The stakes are too high to wait any longer.”
The state’s death toll from coronavirus sits at 22. The number of confirmed cases is about 1,700.
